Implementing Agile Project Management Methodology

Agile Project Management (APM) is a development approach, which by the way does not necessarily have to be good for every project out there.

What do I mean by that? In this article, we are going to discussing different agile methodologies, principles, and methods.

While it may be true that variables of a project vary uniquely under different developers, it’s also true for an approach to be more suitable in one specific niche than the other. In this particular case, the Agile Project Management Methodology (APMP)  has better optimization where the in-user does not exactly know what he/she wants.

In other words, Agile Methodology is more beneficial in the projects where your client is vague about the requirements but rather has a general goal state in mind.

What is Agile Project Management Methodology (APM)?

As mentioned above, Agile Methodology is a developmental approach, used both for product development and software development.

A traditional methodology builds on well-organized steps and rules. Whereas an Agile Methodology is the opposite of a traditional methodology and it does not build on organized rules and steps, instead it focuses on a few principles. To illustrate this more clearly, rules and steps are defined ways a company follows in order to develop a product. Agile Methodology does not follow definite steps or rules, just some principles based on great communication and an aim to achieve the goal state.

In the Japan of 1986, two fellows named Nanaka and Takeuchi came up with a rugby team-type approach to achieve a goal state. Rugby is a metaphor where cross-functional team members work to get past the goal line.

Importance of Agile Project Management (APM):

This functional approach led to a higher degree of a success rate than normal and traditional methods for product/software development. The process then later gained popularity as the term Agile Methodology in a conference in Texas, USA.

1. Formulate stakeholder relationship and trust on an on-going project
2. Transparency flow between an internal and external system
3. Reduce expense due to predictable scheduling

Agile Project Management Principles

The purpose of having a few principles defining the Agile Project Management Methodology (APMP) is to achieve the goal state swiftly. That means, there can be variation in the exact terms and definitions used for these principles. However, the aim remains the same, to achieve the goal state with a higher success rate in an agile manner.

• Sprint: After dividing the complete project into smaller objectives, there is a need to assign time frames based on the quantity of work to those smaller objectives. The one – four weeks tenures having an agile execution of one milestone is the sprint.
• Scrum: The collection of managers, developers, assistants, QA and in short, the team responsible for achieving the backlog of requirements. In other words, the developing team functionally responsible for the project execution is the scrum.
• Sprint Planning: In order to achieve the goal state of the product/software, the in-users define their requirements in detail to the project managers. As a project manager, you get them to prioritize their requirements and list them in the required sprints.

When you’re done with that part, you bring your scrum together and sign up to the requirements in the backlog and come with a detailed sprint plan which reveals when and how can you deliver the backlog.

• Scrum Meeting: During the project execution, there’s a 5-minute meeting daily in the office. The purpose of this meeting is for the developers to state what they achieved yesterday, what are they going to do today, and what is their plan for tomorrow. This ensures intact communication between the team.

Apart from this, keeping a whiteboard in the office individually that organizes and publicizes the daily goals in the office is also a good option.

• Sprint Review: The demo of achievements you show to your client/in-user. The purpose of this is to let the in-user aware of your successful sprints.
• Sprint Retrospective: As a project manager, you discuss with your team at the end of the project about your achievements in the project including the problems and hurdles that came up in your sprints. This ensures the elimination of similar problems in the future.

Agile Project Management vs Traditional Project Management

Following are a few points to help you differentiate Agile Project Management Methodology (APMP) from Traditional Methodology:

Agile Project Management	Traditional Project Management
Builds on some principles to achieve the goal state. More beneficial for projects where the requirements are vague and goal state is clear. Promotes a cross-functional approach for employees to get the work done. This approach is very agile and has a better success rate.	Builds on rules and steps and follows them to achieve the goal state. Better for projects where the requirements are clear including the goal state. Promotes a steps-oriented work approach for each employee. The traditional approach also has a good success rate but follows a very formal and rule-based approach which may be opposite to the nature of some employees.

Agile Project Management Methods

An Agile Project Managing Methodology (APMP) must feature a method with which it decides to go about the execution of a project. Following is an example of an Agile Project Managing Method that compliments the above-featured principles:

• Story: Initially, the use-cases given by the in-user that explains the goal of the product, is the story. For example, a shopping app will require a login page and a buying page that allows the user to pay through a debit card.
• Backlog: The requirements that the developers/managers deduce from the story is the backlog. For example, for a shopping app, they need to build a login page, a shopping page, and a checkout page.
• Tasks: Then we divide the backlog into separate tasks for the collective execution of the project.

Best Agile Approach to Project Management

The best agile approach to project management can vary from one firm to another depending upon their interests.

However, in a nutshell, the best approach is the one that is cross-functional and doesn’t induce any functional restriction on the team. Consider the example of a rugby team with one main goal in mind, to get the ball across the line.

Excel Template and Agile Project Management

As a Project Manager, you may be able to make use of MS Excel in order to better track and monitor the progress of your project. You may consider the following Burn-down Excel template example in this case:

Burn-down Table Chart

Efforts (Hours)	Total Days Left (5)	Total Tasks Left (10)
12	4	9
Sunday	Sunday	Sunday
12	2	4
15	1	1
10	0	0

Agile project management templates are using for documentation purposes only.  An only custom template is available on a particular project request. For more examples and procedures of AGILE, contact team ProjectsManagement.Net

Additional sources & References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

https://www.wrike.com/project-management-guide/faq/ what-is-agile-methodology-in-project-management/

https://www.360logica.com/blog/the-importance-of-different- agile-methodologies-included-in-agile-manifesto/